Shuffle Stories
by Prinzessin
Summary: Five songs, five stories. All about Eliot and the Leverage team.


Leverage Shuffle Stories

You know the drill, five songs, five stories. Write until the song is over.

**Disclaimer:** Leverage belongs to TNT and Dean Devlin. I don't own the awesome show and have nothing to do with it except enjoying the episodes.

#1- _Slip Out the Back_- Fort Minor

He knew the longer the team stayed together, the more likely it was that something was going to go wrong. They managed to get past Sophie conning them, but this…

Eliot sighed, he knew he was in trouble. And he was okay with that, but he wasn't alone and he did have a problem with that. The team depended on him for protection, and now he and Hardison were in a whole new mess of trouble. And he wouldn't admit this to anyone, especially a scared and beaten-up Hardison, but Eliot was scared. He couldn't think of a way out, not with injured ribs, a concussion and a broken arm. They were screwed, and he knew it. He was going to let them down, and he wondered if dying was the only way out. Because he cared, a lot more than he should.

#2- _Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me)_- Simple Plan

The team thought he was invincible. They'd seen him fight against an impossible number of opponents, escaped from impossible prisons… he'd been seriously injured, insisted on caring for himself, and managed to bounce back in a matter of days. He never let anyone see him hurt, nor had he ever asked for anyone's help. But as the team watched in a silent horror, bound to their places by duct tape and flexi-cuffs, Eliot was brought down.

It all happened in slow motion. Eliot burst onto the scene, throwing punches, elbows and kicks with precision. He busted skulls and kneecaps without yelling or screaming. But it was the bullets that brought him down, the bullets from much-hated guns that made the hitter stop hitting.

On his front, dying eyes faced Nate. And all Nate saw in those fading eyes was, "_This isn't supposed to happen to me."_

#3- _Gives You Hell_- All-American Rejects

Eliot smirked as the six non-descript men surrounded him. He looked over at Sophie, who was desperately trying to mask her fear since it would break their cover. His smirk and confidence comforted the grifter, but she still wasn't completely at ease.

There was no discussion, and there were no warnings or threats. One came at the hitter, who dropped him easily. It only took a few minutes, but Eliot dispatched of his opponents with relative ease. Once there were six unconscious bodies on the ground, Eliot ran a hand through his hair and walked over to Sophie and the mark. And Eliot could've laughed as the mark tried to hide behind Sophie.

"Don't worry," Eliot drawled, "I'm not gonna hurt you. Not yet, anyway."

Eliot dared a wink at Sophie, and walked away, leaving a proud Sophie and a trembling mark in his wake.

#4- _Konstantine_- Something Corporate

Eliot wasn't a person who could only thrive in one kind of situation. He could thrive in times of calm and quiet, and he could thrive in noise and chaos. The only difference was what he was doing. He remembered the look of shock on Nate's face when the leader found out that there was more to his retrieval specialist than busting heads. So coming into the office late one night, after drinking too much and not wanting to find his way back to his apartment, Nate was startled to find Eliot in his office with the door open. And he could see the younger man with a guitar on his lap, strumming a tune that Nate didn't recognize. Eliot, always aware, looked up to find company in his doorway.

"You coming in? Or you just gonna hold the wall up?" Eliot drawled with a roll of the eyes, just for dramatic effect.

Nate nodded, taking a few unsteady steps into the office, flopping down in the nearest chair. Eliot went back to his guitar, looking at nothing special while he played song after song, for both his and Nate's benefits. An indeterminable amount of time later, Eliot put down the guitar, noting the obvious look of disappointment on Nate's face.

"I was…uh… maybe more?" Nate managed between sobering up a little and his discomfort in the situation.

"Yeah, sure," Eliot nodded. "Just need a break."

And Eliot headed to the kitchen for a couple of waters, since he knew the last thing Nate needed was more alcohol. When he went back to his office, he found Nate standing over his guitar, running his fingers over the wood and strings.

"Had this for a while?" Nate asked, leaning against the desk.

"Learned to play on that," was all Eliot would say.

Nate wasn't surprised, Eliot rarely elaborated on answers, especially answers that dealt with his past. With the water in his now-steadier hand, Nate sat down as Eliot picked up the guitar once again.

***A/N:** I wanted to work in the line from the song "I'm not your star, isn't that what you said" since I love it, but it didn't fit.

#5- _Decir Adios_- Carlos Ponce

He had turned around to leave, ribs painfully reminding him that he needed to take care of himself and soon. He walked slow, and it wasn't just because of the injury. A small part of him (and he would never admit this) wanted to hear someone call his name. He wanted to hear rushing footsteps behind him. He wanted a reason to stay, or a reason to go somewhere in particular. He didn't want to go to a random hotel for a couple days, then to a random place, wondering if his extremely dysfunctional family was okay. And he grudgingly admitted that the aforementioned family included Sophie, at whom he was still quite mad.

But the more he walked, the more he realized he was going to hear what he wanted. They were scattering, and he knew it was the most logical thing to do. He just didn't have to like it.


End file.
